Thesis (M.A.)--Ohio State University. / Includes bibliographical references. Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center.

Need assessment methods grew out of the Community Mental Health Centre movement. Developed during a time of rapid expansion of service, there was a focus on providing services matched to the unique needs of a community. In the following years need assessment further developed as a technology and a search began for a "best model'. This paper argues that a "best model' is illusionary, a "best fit' being a more desirable goal. As fiscal constraints have reduced the resources available to consumption Ministries such as Health, need assessment has been increasingly used an allocative tool. Users of the tool, it is argued, must therefore choose their model with care and an understanding of the values and concepts inherent in each model is seen as necessary for intelligent choice. Finally, an examination of the British Columbia mental health context offers an analysis of some of the factors which have and will affect the use of need assessment in this Province / Medicine, Faculty of / Population and Public Health (SPPH), School of / Graduate

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Thesis. 1976. M.C.P.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning. / Microfiche copy available in Archives and Rotch. / Bibliography: leaves 120-122. / by Victor John Franckiewicz, Jr. / M.C.P.

No description available.

Thesis (M.Sc.(Hons.))--University of Wollongong, 2004. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references: leaf 135-138.

The understanding of the pathways that clients take prior to admission to a mental health institution, is a vital factor in planning to reduce delays in seeking treatment. Studying the pathways may also help in the identification of sources of delays in the receiving of care and suggest possible improvements. Although western medicine plays an important role in the control of disease, traditional medicine continues to play an important role in the health care of black African communities. They, therefore possess unique attitudes, values and beliefs, about health and illness, which integrally infiuence their health behaviour. This study aims to increase the understanding by health professionals of pathways to care taken by clients before they are admitted to a mental health institution, so as to enhance heath service planning. It also aims to determine the socio-cultural and economic factors, as well as satisfaction with different service providers. The sample in this study consisted of 15 clients, who were between the ages of ten and fifty-nine years. These clients were males and females who were admitted for the first time in a mental health institution (MHI) (TownHill Hospital, Pietermaritzburg). The interview questionnaire, was administered, by the researcher.This study has demonstrated that, Africans still believe in traditional and faith healers as their first port of call when they are mentally ill. Their help seeking behaviour is determined by their cultural beliefs and values. The study also demonstrated the high involvement of the South African Police Services (SAPS) in the pathway to mental health institution by intervening to protect family or public and also transporting the client to a mental health institution. The Primary Health Care (PHC) is very seldom used Economic factors like unemployment strongly infiuence the mental health of people and also affect their social functioning, as it is shown by the high levels of unemployment in the sample. Some of these clients resort to living on the streets, because they cannot find employment and are homeless. The study has also shown the importance of education and training of health professionals in PHC, in identifying the first signs of mental illness when clients present themselves and making available the psychotropic drugs at the PHCC as this is the first port of call for clients. Psycho education of traditional healers, spiritual healers, SAPS and community should be implemented on when and how to refer clients, how to handle mentally ill clients. / Thesis (M.Cur.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2001.

Background: Accrual of continuing medical education credits is part of licensure in family medicine but opinions are mixed as to whether the training has an impact on clinical practice. Literature does suggest that practice change is most likely when training involves multiple interactive exposures, and when the benefit to patients is apparent. Aim: To determine whether an interactive peer-lead educational intervention for General Practitioners in British Columbia, the Practice Support Program Mental Health Module, resulted in measureable change in clinical practice of the Vancouver Island participants. Method: Administrative information from British Columbia Ministry of Health databases was obtained for analysis regarding physician billing and prescribing, and hospitalizations on Vancouver Island. Paired t-tests were used to compare physician-patient interactions among module participants before and after the training regarding a) initiation of antidepressants and anti-anxiety medication, and b) use of the mental health plan billing code, used to support patients who struggle with activities of daily living. In addition, mental health hospitalizations among participants' patients before and after training were used to measure its impact on patient outcomes. Results: One-hundred and ninety-seven General Practitioners on Vancouver Island completed the mental health module between 2008 and 2011. While no significant difference was found in the numbers of mental health patients seen during the pre- and post- periods (M=142.06, SD=97.45) and (M=144.44, SD=103.00); t(196)=-0.679, p=0.498, α=.05, the change in the proportion of new prescriptions between pre-period mean (M=0.0796, SD=.06527) and post-period means (M=.0530, SD=.03877); t(195)=6.668, p<0.001 was found to be significant and indicative of a relative decrease between 31.2 and 33.4%. The change in the proportion of mental health plans was also found to be significant between pre-period (M=0.1142, SD=.018598) and post-period means (M=.1674, SD=.23973); t(180)=-3.586, p<0.001. This indicated a relative increase between 42.0 and 46.6%. No significant change in patient hospitalizations was found between the pre- and post-period means: (M=0.039, SD=.0612) and (M=.0392, SD=.0978); t(192)=-0.055, p=0.956. Conclusion: This educational intervention appears to have resulted in significant changes in the practice patterns of the physician participants. Future research using better indicators may reveal more about the impact of physician training on patient outcomes. / Graduate

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / O movimento de Reforma Psiquiátrica possibilitou que uma política de saúde mental, substitutiva ao hospital psiquiátrico e de base comunitária pudesse ser, de fato, implementada no país. Tal movimento, junto a uma série de acontecimentos e construções argumentativas, permitiu uma mudança de paradigma e a efetiva construção de uma rede territorial de cuidados em saúde mental. Este estudo dedica-se a analisar o uso do planejamento na trajetória de implementação da política de saúde mental na cidade do Rio de Janeiro. Para tal, foram entrevistados atores que participaram da construção da gestão municipal no período entre 1993 e 2008. Foi possível, a partir destas entrevistas, reconhecer alguns momentos nos quais os atores realizaram cálculos que precederam e presidiram as suas ações. Analisamos a coerência destes cálculos com os propósitos de transformação da assistência psiquiátrica, com os métodos escolhidos para tal e com as instituições, usando algumas contribuições teóricas de Carlos Matus e Mario Testa. Observou-se uma experiência planejadora densa, com um pensamento de natureza estratégica e com cálculos complexos, mas que não foram realizados a partir de métodos definidos a priori. / The Psychiatric Reform made possible that a mental health policy, which substitute the psychiatric hospital and is based on a communitary basis, could be, in fact, implemented in Brazil. This reform, together with another events and reflexions, allowed a paradigm change and the effective construction of a territorial network in mental health care. This study is dedicated to analyze the use of planning on the mental health policy implementation in Rio de Janeiro city. On this way, some stakeholders, who took part on the construction the municipal management between 1993 and 2008, were interviewed. It was possible, from the interviews, to recognize some moments where the involved actors did some calculations, preceding and chairing their actions. We analyzed the coherency in such calculations with the purposes of transformation in psychiatric care; with their methodological choices and concerned institutions, using some of the theorical approaches from Carlos Matus e Mario Testa. We could observe a dense planning experience, with thoughts from strategical nature and complex calculations, that were not done based on a priori defined methods.